Clinton: 'Who cares' whose idea?

Former President Bill Clinton says when it comes to Syria giving up its chemical weapons, “who cares” whose idea it was?

Clinton was dismissive of the notion that Russia brokering the agreement with Syria gives Russian President Vladimir Putin some advantage, telling CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an interview that what matters is the end result.

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“Now, there are some who say well, you know, this gives the initiative to Putin. And, who cares how it came up?” Clinton said in the interview, which aired in part on CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday.

Clinton continued: “John Kerry got asked, ‘Well, what can we do to stop you from bombing,’ and he said, ‘Make the problem go away.’ So Putin says, ‘OK, I’ll do that.’”

The former president said the issue is separate from the larger civil war and praised the removal of chemical weapons as an important step.

“They say, well, this puts Russia in a position of leverage and it guarantees that Assad is going to be in power for a while longer. That’s a separate issue. But there is inherent and enduring benefit in taking a step that has the potential to rid the world of these chemical weapons,” Clinton said.

CNN will air the full interview with Clinton during Zakaria’s “GPS” on Sunday.